The Joy of Running an Old Shed (Vol 2)
Discussion
Drezza said:
I'm in the precarious situation of looking at £3.5k "sheds" (Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TSI) to replace my 1.9TDI Fabia vRS. Been looking at common problems and they seem to suffer from timing chain tensioner issues and after reading the last few comments I'm thinking it may not be the best idea. However the seller has had the chain and tensioner replaced in 2019 at Skoda and it has a full new set of Michelins and discs/ pads so I think he has looked after it. Decisions decisions...
Just for clarity it is only the facelift MK2 VRS petrol which uses the 2 litre TSI with the timing chain. I think 2009 on?Personally I would go for the earlier one with the EA888 (I think that is correct) TSI with the cambelt. You need to check the water pump on those but I believe this first batch of TFSI petrol engines generally is very strong. I have a mate with a 2005 Golf GTI Mk5. Same engine. I drove it last year and given its mileage (132,000) it honestly wore them well. Engine still felt very strong and the ride and handling were beautiful. If someone had told me it had 60,000 miles on the clock I would have believed them. Just the rusty front wings on that car giving away its age!!!
greenarrow said:
Just for clarity it is only the facelift MK2 VRS petrol which uses the 2 litre TSI with the timing chain. I think 2009 on?
Personally I would go for the earlier one with the EA888 (I think that is correct) TSI with the cambelt. You need to check the water pump on those but I believe this first batch of TFSI petrol engines generally is very strong. I have a mate with a 2005 Golf GTI Mk5. Same engine. I drove it last year and given its mileage (132,000) it honestly wore them well. Engine still felt very strong and the ride and handling were beautiful. If someone had told me it had 60,000 miles on the clock I would have believed them. Just the rusty front wings on that car giving away its age!!!
It's the Mk2 petrol 2010 which is the TSI I believe? It's done 90k miles which doesn't really put me off as the guy's had it for 8 years and had the chain done 20k miles ago so hoping all should be well? It's only £3.5k which I think seems pretty good, but as they say "better the devil you know"... Personally I would go for the earlier one with the EA888 (I think that is correct) TSI with the cambelt. You need to check the water pump on those but I believe this first batch of TFSI petrol engines generally is very strong. I have a mate with a 2005 Golf GTI Mk5. Same engine. I drove it last year and given its mileage (132,000) it honestly wore them well. Engine still felt very strong and the ride and handling were beautiful. If someone had told me it had 60,000 miles on the clock I would have believed them. Just the rusty front wings on that car giving away its age!!!
bodhi said:
Still trying to get my head round the AC in the SpaceCivic. It generally blows warm but I'm getting cool air from the vent by the steering wheel - not cold, but definitely cool.
Up until now I've been happy to assume it's broken and just use the BMW when it's hot, but I'm intrigued now I'm seeing signs of life from it.
I had a Civic EV1 Type S about 6 years ago. Up until now I've been happy to assume it's broken and just use the BMW when it's hot, but I'm intrigued now I'm seeing signs of life from it.
Most reliable car I have ever had apart from AC.
I paid £750 for the car and the guy I got it from had fitted new compressor plus full AC service for around £600. Worked great for a year then meh. Had it checked by Honda and they reckoned compressor needed changing again so never bothered.
My 2006 Saab 93 V6 I have had since 2020 paid £900 has the best AC I have ever had.
Touchwood I haven’t done anything to it and even couple of years ago when we had that 39 degrees day I was cruising to work in lovely 18 degrees.
Car will soon be going to the scrap yard I feel. Not as cheap to run as the Civic but for what I paid and the performance I would challenge anyone to beat me?
£900 and stuck a stage 1 on it for £250 and have myself a 290bhp 470NM beast.
Edited by Aiminghigh123 on Wednesday 3rd July 10:43
This 3-4k territory hits close to home.
I bought a car worth £3k+ imo
But I bought it for under £2k (ebay auction)
The car in question is a 530i manual.
The price I paid puts it firmly in shed territory - however, it feels to nice to neglect/run on shoestring.
I've had it a month, mechanically its been fantastic (haven't even spotted an oil leak which is rare for BMW under my ownership).
However, there is a few niggles, the audio/parking sensors dont work and I hate the wheels.
Do I spend money on these or treat it like a shed? -
I bought a car worth £3k+ imo
But I bought it for under £2k (ebay auction)
The car in question is a 530i manual.
The price I paid puts it firmly in shed territory - however, it feels to nice to neglect/run on shoestring.
I've had it a month, mechanically its been fantastic (haven't even spotted an oil leak which is rare for BMW under my ownership).
However, there is a few niggles, the audio/parking sensors dont work and I hate the wheels.
Do I spend money on these or treat it like a shed? -
Shabaza said:
This 3-4k territory hits close to home.
I bought a car worth £3k+ imo
But I bought it for under £2k (ebay auction)
The car in question is a 530i manual.
The price I paid puts it firmly in shed territory - however, it feels to nice to neglect/run on shoestring.
I've had it a month, mechanically its been fantastic (haven't even spotted an oil leak which is rare for BMW under my ownership).
However, there is a few niggles, the audio/parking sensors dont work and I hate the wheels.
Do I spend money on these or treat it like a shed? -
iDrive system needs replaced. I bought a car worth £3k+ imo
But I bought it for under £2k (ebay auction)
The car in question is a 530i manual.
The price I paid puts it firmly in shed territory - however, it feels to nice to neglect/run on shoestring.
I've had it a month, mechanically its been fantastic (haven't even spotted an oil leak which is rare for BMW under my ownership).
However, there is a few niggles, the audio/parking sensors dont work and I hate the wheels.
Do I spend money on these or treat it like a shed? -
It's not worth more owning to the fault and also the fact it was an auction. It found it's value and thats what you paid.
It does look like a more expensive car however, but I do agree, those wheels must go.
. The wheels wouldn't be my first choice, but they are not offensive and do the job. If the parking sensors are the only thing wrong with it then you've got yourself a bargain there imo.QBee said:
A shed is a car you keep running.
On no account do you spend on ££££ on different wheels - it works fine on the wheels on it.
Devil's advocate here... you may find that a smaller, less Barryboy set of OE wheels and tyres are available when the time comes to replace tyres for less than the cost of just putting tyres on those wheels... or you may find someone with the same car (and a few years younger or lacking in taste) willing to swap/trade their OE wheels with those ones. Entirely possible to change wheels without spending thousands... On no account do you spend on ££££ on different wheels - it works fine on the wheels on it.
Drezza said:
It's the Mk2 petrol 2010 which is the TSI I believe? It's done 90k miles which doesn't really put me off as the guy's had it for 8 years and had the chain done 20k miles ago so hoping all should be well? It's only £3.5k which I think seems pretty good, but as they say "better the devil you know"...
Its always a tricky one isn't it. A mate of mine has a 2010 Golf GTI with that engine and its been trouble free, I think generally they're not bad aside from the timing chain. I owned an Audi A3 TDI 1.9 PD 130 years ago btw, same engine as your Fabia. What a great engine that was. So punchy in a reasonably not too heavy car. I remember one night having a proper race with a guy in a Fabia VRS. Expected the Fabia to be a bit quicker as it was the next class size of car down, but they were evenly matched. Literally nothing in it from 20 MPH to, **cough**...around 120MPH! They always were very real world quick cars though.So my other half has been using my 9-3 1.9ttid as her day to day car. Her ML is costly to do the school run in plus it needed a couple of tyres and could do with a gearbox service.
The Saab has behaved impeccably and average MPG hasn't dropped below 50mpg but it's started showing signs of a steering issue. Usually very light, it's started to get heavier albeit intermittently. PSF hasn't dropped but I've noticed the bottom of the engine bay is wet so I would assume a leak somewhere.
Steering rack or power steering pump at a guess but have a mobile mechanic coming to look at it Monday. To be fair, with 142k on the clock, this would be the only fault I've had that affects the drive. Only other issue was a sensor on the folding roof.
As you can see my youngest daughter loves it, especially for the school run!
The Saab has behaved impeccably and average MPG hasn't dropped below 50mpg but it's started showing signs of a steering issue. Usually very light, it's started to get heavier albeit intermittently. PSF hasn't dropped but I've noticed the bottom of the engine bay is wet so I would assume a leak somewhere.
Steering rack or power steering pump at a guess but have a mobile mechanic coming to look at it Monday. To be fair, with 142k on the clock, this would be the only fault I've had that affects the drive. Only other issue was a sensor on the folding roof.
As you can see my youngest daughter loves it, especially for the school run!
hi all, im thinking of selling my lwb vivaro van( mountain bike transport ) for something worth a little less and alot less on tax/insurance........ive been looking at vauxhall insignias estate, are these generally good cars? im looking for something not to worry about and get beat up and not care about it as much as i do my van lol.
For me, at a push £1500. Maybe I'm looking at things differently but it should be a car that you chuck a couple of hundred into it and if it requires a lot of work, you happily bin it and roll the dice again.
I guess it's all down to the individual. I suspect some millionaires treat their supercars like sheds.
I guess it's all down to the individual. I suspect some millionaires treat their supercars like sheds.
jezhumphrey75 said:
hi all, im thinking of selling my lwb vivaro van( mountain bike transport ) for something worth a little less and alot less on tax/insurance........ive been looking at vauxhall insignias estate, are these generally good cars? im looking for something not to worry about and get beat up and not care about it as much as i do my van lol.
Petrol yes, diesel no.Gordon Hill said:
jezhumphrey75 said:
hi all, im thinking of selling my lwb vivaro van( mountain bike transport ) for something worth a little less and alot less on tax/insurance........ive been looking at vauxhall insignias estate, are these generally good cars? im looking for something not to worry about and get beat up and not care about it as much as i do my van lol.
Petrol yes, diesel no.Only thing usually on these is coolant issues, and the infamous 6 speed gearbox (M32), some bearing can be crap on them - but yes a lot less painful than the collection of potential bork issues the 2.0 diesels can/do get.
Tempted by these as a next step up over my Vectra (same engine)...if you can find a Vectra estate petrol, I would strongly recommend one of them for your needs.... absolutely box on wheels!!
This would be worth a punt, if I was looking and i was more local, £750!!
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406130...
Edited by 7 5 7 on Wednesday 3rd July 20:51
deadtom said:
mercedeslimos said:
AC - Check the variable displacement valve on the compressor - modern cars don't use a clutch; instead, they have the compressor running the whole time (better for them) and vary the amount of gas depending on the demand.
Fumes - if it's the EGR cooler (and this is a VW TDI, probably is) - you can remove it, blank the EGR, loop the coolant pipes, and map it out. Won't affect the engine or emissions and eliminates another piece of common failure junk. Yours is a BMM engine I think, basically a 1.9 with larger pistons and only 8 valves, way better engine than the 16v unit.
CV Gaiter - just replace the gaiter with a tenner item, if they are lazy you can even get boots you fit and glue on without having to remove the driveshaft.
Front suspension knocking - if it's a light knocking it will be the drop links - very DIYable and cheap - you can easily check if it's the wishbone bushes - get someone to drive off while watching the wheels slowly - if the wheels move backward in the arches it's the big bushes - the small front ones rarely wear out.
Thank you, that's useful stuff.Fumes - if it's the EGR cooler (and this is a VW TDI, probably is) - you can remove it, blank the EGR, loop the coolant pipes, and map it out. Won't affect the engine or emissions and eliminates another piece of common failure junk. Yours is a BMM engine I think, basically a 1.9 with larger pistons and only 8 valves, way better engine than the 16v unit.
CV Gaiter - just replace the gaiter with a tenner item, if they are lazy you can even get boots you fit and glue on without having to remove the driveshaft.
Front suspension knocking - if it's a light knocking it will be the drop links - very DIYable and cheap - you can easily check if it's the wishbone bushes - get someone to drive off while watching the wheels slowly - if the wheels move backward in the arches it's the big bushes - the small front ones rarely wear out.
The EGR I have asked the garage to sort the, I don't have the confidence or fighting spirit to take that on on my own. Yes it's a BMM, I'm glad to hear it's a better unit than the 16V as I have heard that the 2.0 tdi was a bit of a step-down reliability-wise from the venerable 1.9
How would I check the variable displacement valve on the compressor?
CV gaiter I've asked the garage to do as it looks like there are a few tools needed to do that which I don't have, and the garage has said they'll check the CV itself and use a recon unit if that's borked, which is good of them
lower arms look to be a fairly easy swap, so I'll have a go at that on the driveway. Looks like it's nothing more complex than a few 16 and 18-mm bolts. Switching the arms shouldn't affect the tracking etc as there's no adjustment on them. I don't have access to a press, so changing the bushes only is probably a no-go.
One word of advice for the wishbones - lots of penetrating fluid and early on, let it sink in for a week as the bolts can snap. I find them very easy to work on but that's purely experience.
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